UNITED NATIONS: More than 100 UN member states called Tuesday for the protection of humanitarian aid workers, who are dying in record numbers in conflicts around the world.

Last year 280 of these workers died in 33 countries, according to the Aid Worker Security Database, which the United Nations uses as a reference. And this year is turning out to be even more deadly.

The ambassadors of 117 UN delegations issued a joint statement to honor humanitarian workers, saying “your work and your dedication is essential to save lives and to alleviate the suffering of millions of people around the world.”

“We will repeat it as long as it is needed: Civilians, and those who assist them, must be respected and protected. They are not a target,” said the Swiss ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, speaking on behalf of all the signatories of the statement.

They represent a strong majority of the 193 UN member states, including all the members of the Security Council except Russia, with notable absences such as Israel and Sudan.

Earlier, the Swiss ambassador and several representatives of NGOs stood behind a row of 14 empty vintage chairs with large letters that read “War has limits.”

Switzerland, the depository nation of the Geneva Conventions, gave the 75-year-old chairs to the Security Council in August of this year to mark the 75th anniversary of those seminal texts of international humanitarian law.

The chairs symbolize the “seat of duty” of the Security Council, which has a unique role as custodian of international peace and security and is responsible for protecting vulnerable people, said Baeriswyl.

The 280 aid workers killed last year were more than double the annual average of the previous 10 years, Abby Stoddard, founder of the research organization Humanitarian Outcomes, which manages the security database, told the Security Council.

And the record set in 2023 has already been broken this year, with a month left to it.